NCAA Delivers One-Year Bowl Ban to Central Florida Football
Update: Central Florida was also given five-years probation, a three-year show cause penalty due to the actions of a former AD, a reduction of three scholarships per year, and a $50,000 fine in the official announcement this morning.
After self-imposing sanctions earlier in the summer in an effort to head off further punishment from the NCAA, the University of Central Florida football program has been hit with a one-year bowl ban nonetheless.
The men’s basketball program at the school has received a similar one-year punishment, and will not be eligible for post-season play following the 2012-2013 season.
The following tweet was the first this morning in regards to this breaking story:
July 31, 2012 9:30 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
The NCAA’s decision is hardly a surprise given it’s recent sanction of the Penn State football program due to the highly publicized cover-up of the actions of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, and other investigations pending against high-profile programs including the University of Miami and the University of North Carolina.
Mark Emmert has stamped his impression on each of these cases to this point in an effort– which some consider futile– to levy some of the little power that remains in the NCAA, as the organization continues to toe the line between maintenance of the antiquated notion of amateurism and the increasing leverage of the dollar in big-time college athletics.
It’s not all the NCAA sledgehammer dropping on UCF, however, as some suggest they have plenty of their own issues to answer to.
UCF had a player pass away due to over-exertion and an underlying condition which could be attributed to a lack of oversight in off-season drills which could become the school’s next headache:
July 31, 2012 9:48 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
July 31, 2012 9:49 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
With the current litigious climate we find ourselves in, is UCF out of the woods on this issue as well?
Did the Penn State situation create a precedent for increased scrutiny into programs when even the simplest sanctions are handed down?
These are questions which certainly don’t have easy answers, but answers which are sure to surface as the NCAA’s investigative scope expands much faster than it will ever contract.
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Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports and a member of the Football Writers Association of America.
You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
Kris is also the host of Rant Sports Radioon the Blog Talk Radio Network Wednesday evenings at 8 Central Time.
